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Two hundred Ukrainian children will arrive in Austria on Thursday for a ten day skiing holiday. The children are from the rebel-held Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine, which have been at the centre of the conflict with Russia.

The ministries of sport and commerce have invited the children to stay at a federal sports and activity centre in Schielleiten in Styria.

The children are aged between ten and 15-years-old and many of them are orphans who fled to Kiev. 50 children are still living in Ukraine’s war zones, the Ministry of Sport said.

The children will be accompanied by 20 tutors and interpreters, and were selected from SOS Children’s Villages in Ukraine, which support children, young people and families.

The cost of the holiday - €130,000 - will be covered by the Sports Ministry and the Chamber of Commerce.

On Friday Chancellor Werner Faymann and Sports Minister Gerald Klug will visit the children in Schielleiten. Faymann announced the initiative during a visit to Kiev in October last year.